I'll Wait
by SHIELDing-things
Summary: Six days. It's all Skye gets with her. A brief passing each day, a conversation on the fifth and a death on the sixth. It's been like that for centuries, maybe longer. Names and places change, the bloody end burrows deeper into her mind each time. The only thing that stays the same? Two words. I'll wait.


Six days. It's all Skye gets with her. A brief passing each day, a conversation on the fifth and a death on the sixth. It's been like that for centuries, maybe longer. Names and places change, the bloody end burrows deeper into her mind each time. The only thing that stays the same? Two words. I'll wait.

Don't misunderstand, she's tried to prevent it. She'll pull her back from the staircase in time for a snake to bite her calf, poison seeping deep into her muscle. She'll fight the intruder in her apartment for a blood clot to lodge in a blood vessel and kill her within minutes. It's unpreventable. So Skye watches. And she learns.

She'd lost track of the number of times it had happened as the woman placed her order at the counter of the café and found a seat to wait for it to be brought over. The first day they had met Skye had just been hired. She hadn't been the one to take her order until the fifth day. Skye had never actually made a cup of tea in that life and Jemma gave her a few pointers, smiling out of the corner of her mouth as she brought the mug over with her usual blueberry muffin.

"The bakery hasn't delivered the fresh muffins yet," Skye stated while handing Jemma her receipt and change on the sixth day. "Could I interest you in a slice of cake instead?"

Jemma folded up the receipt in the same precise motion she had used for the last six days then placed it into her purse with the coins. "Oh, no, it's fine. I'll wait," Jemma answered with a sweet smile. Skye nodded, eyeing her carefully as she took a seat in her usual spot. What would it be this time? There were no discernible threats at that moment but it had been like that seconds before a gunman burst in or a bomb went off.

Skye readied the pot of tea then left Leo to take over the orders as the delivery man rung the bell behind the scenes. It took mere minutes to unload the assortment of baked goods before she was reaching for Jemma's usual blueberry muffin and Leo called her back out again.

The coffee shop on the neighbouring college campus had closed for maintenance sending an unusual number of college kids looking for their caffeine fix. She put several pots of water on the boil and sent Leo behind to grab the pastries they were all craving so badly. And, for a line so big, it was whittled down surprisingly quickly once money was in hand and hot drinks was on offer.

"I'll just go grab Jemma's order," Skye said after rinsing out another coffee pot and wiping it dry.

"Oh, I already covered that," He stated nonchalantly, his mind focused on measuring out the precise amount of milk to pour into the creamer. "Tea with milk and three sugars plus a peanut muffin,"

"She ordered a blueberry," Skye replied flatly, her heart beginning to sink as a small cough came from Jemma's table. They glanced over to see the muffin in question had one large bite taken from it and Jemma trying her best to clear her throat. Anaphylaxis shock took over in minutes, her throat closed over and her body deprived of oxygen. She was gone before the ambulance arrived.

And the game began again.

Skye spent her mornings in the public library, using their wifi and browsing the archives until she was asked to leave. Then she'd pitch up her spot on a park bench that could just about stretch to borrow the internet from the local burger joint. On days she was feeling a little guilty for the free surfing and her pockets had a few coins rattling round she'd buy something off the menu. That week didn't have one of those days.

Jemma passed her every day at exactly 3:04pm to catch the bus a few dozen yards away from Skye's bench. In the months Jemma had been taking that bus, she had never missed it. Of course, Skye only saw the first four days of success followed by the failure of the fifth. She tried to race to catch the driver's attention but it was no good, once it was moving it wasn't going to stop for anyone.

She let out a heavy sigh and reluctantly wandered back to rest on the end of the bench, pulling out her phone to check the time and text her roommate to tell her she'd be back late. "Rough day?" Skye asked at the third huff before bringing her eyes up from the screen to Jemma's face.

"Just long," Jemma answered, her facial expression tense but a little less so than directly after watching the bus drive away without her. "I though I could get home early and start my dissertation on proline oxidative pathways but apparently not," She added with a slight annoyance in her tone. Skye was tempted to ask for a more detailed explanation on her dissertation but if this was her only conversation in this life with her, she'd like it to be something she could actually understand.

"But other than that, how was your day?" Skye asked, she never had to say too much to prompt her. It was like Jemma would be compelled to talk to her, to explain every little thing that popped into her head. If it was strong enough to recreate this situation over and over again, maybe this was just part of it all too.

"Quite enjoyable, really. I got into an interesting discussion on the process of detoxifying enzymes with one of my professors and he's considering bringing in a few extra scientists to investigate too," She explained as her muscles began to relax from their tense state and a small smile tugged on the corner of her lips. "And the weather is nice for this time of year too,"

"Nothing beats a dry fall," Skye agreed as she glanced about the park, knowing full well it would have to be suitable conditions for her to fulfil the time slot of passings. "It'll make up for it in winter, though," Talking about it like she'd see the end of tomorrow, that's how Skye disconnected. "They think we'll have at least two feet of snow by December,"

Jemma smiled a little more and told her about the winters in England, stating even the thickest snow here was better than the constant downpour of rain year round. They talked about Skye's day a little, about the archives she had come across in her boredom and what she had stumbled across online while trying to keep herself busy.

The bus came in exactly thirty minutes after it left and with a swift goodbye Jemma was up and sauntering up to where it would stop. Skye watched until the bus had turned the corner with the girl safely inside before she closed her laptop, slipped it in her bag and wandered back home.

Jemma was perfectly on time the next day. In fact, she was three minutes early. She seemed focused on the spot where the would-be passengers were waiting for the arrival of their transport, barely noticing Skye tapping away at her laptop as she passed. Then she paused a few yards from the bench, her muscles tensed like she'd been shocked with electricity. She slowly turned round then stepped back toward the bench and perched on the edge.

"I might be interrupting," Jemma began with that same perplexed look behind her eyes. Skye had never seen that in her before. "But I realised I didn't even introduced myself yesterday. Jemma Simmons," She stated while holding out a hand that Skye took and gave a firm shake. Physical contactnever went beyond light brushes.

"Skye," She said with a slight smile as she tilted the screen down and turned her attention to the girl. It didn't matter how many times she saw it happen, she always tried to take in Jemma's face completely before this version of her was gone. Skye was just about to teasingly ask if she came here often when the bus turned up the road and headed for the stop. "I guess introductions will have to wait," She stated with a shrug. Till when? There was nothing after this, not for these versions of themselves.

"I'll..." Jemma paused, that same confusion misting over her eyes for a moment before she pulled back control. "I'll see you tomorrow, Skye,"

And then she stood and sauntered off to join the back of the queue. Skye sat in silence for a long few minutes, watching the bus turn the same corner as always. Where was her line? Where was the inevitable death?

Tomorrow. She'd see her again, like this, tomorrow. A grin crept onto her lips despite herself as she packed away her laptop in the fading sunlight, shaking her head in disbelief. And as she took one final look at where the girl had sat not long ago she couldn't stop herself whispering "Tomorrow... I can wait for that."

* * *

**I wrote this in my lunch break as a one off to keep busy but it's something I might add another couple chapters to so be sure to review if you'd be interested in that! **


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